As speculated, Apple has announced that the iPhone 7 will no longer have an analog headphone port. And Intel recently encouraged smartphone vendors to drop the traditional jack in favor of the new audio features of USB-C. However, those developments don’t mean the end of your favorite earbuds, or great audio. So, dear headphone fans, put the paper bag down and take a deep breath—here’s what you should know.

Make tech shopping simpler

Sign up for our newsletter and let our experts help you find the things you need, even faster.

Alternatively, the iPhone 7 will ship with Lightning-based EarPods, and some high-end headphone companies are starting to offer Lightning-connector headphones with a DAC built into the cable or headphones (for example, the Audeze Sine Series), or DAC cable upgrades for existing models. If you have headphones with a removable cable, chances are good that other companies will release Lightning-connector cable replacements in response to the iPhone announcement.

What if I just can’t quit my favorite analog headphones?

Included with each iPhone 7, it allows you to use analog headphones with a Lightning port. A three-button remote will still work, but you won’t be able to charge simultaneously.

No worries: The iPhone 7 will ship with an adapter, and Apple will make the adapter available for $10, so you can just pop that into the Lightning port and proceed as usual. One of our editors confirmed that the three-button remote and mic will still work through the adapter after Apple’s September 7 event. One caveat, however: You won’t be able to listen and charge your phone simultaneously. (Accessories like this were already available, but the remote and mic on your headphones don’t function through it.) So if you do have a well-loved audio companion, you don’t need to break up with it just yet.

What about my car?

The inability to charge an iPhone 7 while using the headphone adapter may be an annoyance while you’re walking around, but it can be a dealbreaker while you’re driving if you’re used to using an aux cable for audio while charging your phone. Because smartphones often pull double duty as a GPS unit and a listening device, the battery dies quickly if you haven’t plugged the phone into a car charger. Currently, the only way to get around this problem is to charge the phone through its Lightning port and stream audio over Bluetooth. But older cars without built-in Bluetooth can’t do that without some help.

Why would Apple and other smartphone vendors do this?

Although some tech writers seem to think Apple has a Beats-centric business model in mind, we’re convinced the reasoning is a little simpler than that. (The fact that smartphone vendors that don’t own headphone companies are considering the same move seems to support this notion.) Here are three good reasons that Apple removed the analog jack (and other companies might too).

No headphone jack means more room for something else, or a smaller phone. When a company is making devices as space-conscious as an iPhone or some other smartphone, every square millimeter matters. The removal of the jack (plus the other internal hardware that makes that jack function) could possibly mean a thinner phone, a larger battery, more memory, an improved screen, an extra speaker for stereo, or, as in the case of the iPhone 7, a force-sensitive home button.

Bluetooth has come a long way. There was a time when Bluetooth audio was laughably bad and connection issues were common. But thanks to improved transmitters, receivers, and codecs, Bluetooth, though still more costly than a wired connection, can sound really close—and in some situations even identical—to wired. Connection issues are also much less common with the latest models. (Of course, this varies between headphones.) As more and more people cut the cord for mobile use, Apple may simply be responding to what the company sees as customers’ future demands. (Indeed, NPD reports that in June 2016 Bluetooth headphones outsold wired models for the first time ever.)

Lightning-based audio can be superior to what the average smartphone’s analog jack gives you. Here’s where we have to get a bit technical: All digital-audio devices need to take the ones and zeros that make up your audio files (or streams) and turn them into audible sound. To do so, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) converts digital data to the analog audio signal that traditional headphones use. Like a skilled translator, a high-quality DAC can give you better audio quality, but a poor one doesn’t work quite as well. The DAC in the iPhone is pretty good for what it is, but moving the DAC outside of the iPhone allows for potentially better conversion, and thus possibly better sound. (This applies to USB audio, too.)

Watch this space

We know—change can be scary. But while the iPhone 7 is lacking a headphone jack, it isn’t lacking in compatible audio alternatives. Whether you hear your music via Bluetooth or a Lightning-to-analog adapter, it will still sound as good, if not better than ever. And as more devices related to the switch pop up, we’ll be sure to check them out for you.

Updated on September 7, 2016, after Apple announced that the iPhone 7 would not have an analog headphone jack.

We help support the hundreds of hours that go into our evaluations through affiliate commissions on purchases made through our links. We’re committed to publishing unbiased guides that clearly detail our decision-making criteria to our readers, but we just want you to know.

Here's how to support our writers and our work. For more on our ethics, ideas and how we work, read this. We obtain the products we review through a mixture of buying our own and working with companies to borrow review units. Our policy is to return or donate products after we’re finished working with them.

Find an error?: Also, If you notice a guide that needs a little freshening up, or has errors, please tweet us at @wirecutter or email us at notes@thewirecutter.com and we'll fix it. Thank you.